Router



(No Model.) 2 sheets Sheet 1.

H. E. PURDY.

ROUTER.

Patented Oct. 6, 1896.

: Noam: PETiRS Puo'ro-u'rum vusnmmun o c (No Model.) 1 2 Shets-Sheet 2. Q I

H.E.PURDY. v

ROUTER. j V v No. 569,054. Patented 0c t. 6, 1896.

,1 E2717 EPa/rdy fliiorngys v UNITED STATES" PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY E. PURDY, OF IIICHIGAN CITY, INDIANA.

ROUTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 569,054, dated October 6, 1896.

Application filed March 16, 1896. Serial No, 583,46 7. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY E. PURDY, of

Michigan City, in the county of La Porto and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Routers; and I do hereby declare that the followingis a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form part of this specification.

This invention is an improvement in machines especially designed for routing or grooving chair-seat frames to facilitate the attachment of cane, leather, and other flexible or manufactured seats thereto, but also applicable to grooving or channeling flat bodies of varied contour.

I will describe it as adapted for grooving the seat-frames of chairs for the reception of the edges of the seats.

My invention briefly consists in a pattern whose edges conform to the contour of the groove to be out, except that where angles are to be formed the pattern is rounded-on an are having the apex of the angle as its center, the radii of this curve being equal in length to the distance between the side of the pattern and the point of the cutter or router, which is always a uniform distance from the edge of the pattern when in operation, as hereinafter more clearly explained. To the edge of this pattern I then secure metallic ribbon,which forms a flange on the edge of the pattern conforming to the contour thereof. In operation this flange is clamped between rollers and fed along thereby, thus turning the pattern around, while the router, which is mounted directly opposite and in line with the axis of one of the rollers, cuts a groove in a board or frame secured to the pattern conforming to the contour of the flange, except that where the flange is curved so as to turn the pattern as if it was pivoted on the router, the router does no cutting until the pattern is shifted so as to change the location of the imaginary pivot on which it might be said to revolve. These are the essential parts of the invention, and in the accompanying drawings I have illustrated one form of apparatus for practically utilizing it.

In said drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a machine, partly in section, for routspective of the combined pattern and work holder. Fig. 8 is a detail of the eccentric mountings of the propelling-roller.

A designates an upright standard having a lateral horizontal table a, on whichis fixed a short vertical roller B. Beside roller B is a friction-disk O, which is mounted on the upper end of a vertical stub-shaft c, which is journ aled ecc'entrically in a rotatable disk D, suitably mounted under the table, and provided with a lever cl, by which it can be ro- 7o tated and thus move disk 0 toward or from the roller B.

On the lower end of shaft 0 is a worm-gear c, which meshes with aworm e on a shaft E,

journaled in proper bearings below the table.

Shaft E may be driven by any suitable means,

and as shown it is driven by bevel-gears f j" from a vertical shaft G, standing in rear of the upright A.

Above the table and vertically and axially above roller B is the routing-tool H, which may be mounted on a vertically movable stock h, driven by belts and pulleys from shaft G, as indicated in the drawings.

I do not claim any particular mechanism for operating the routing-tool or disk D, as these and the devices described may be varied, the essentials being that the router be axially in line with the stationary roller and that the friction-disk be adjustable toward 0 the stationary roller, or vice versa, for the purpose of clamping the pattern and work holder, which I will now describe.

I have shown the pattern for an ordinaryshaped chair-seat frame, in which the sides 5 and end pieces are jointed together substantially at right angles, so that the groove for the seat should have sharp corners at the corners of the chair-seat.

The pattern and work holder therefore con- [00 sists of a board J, which is shaped to correspond with the contour of grooves to be out in the sides and ends of the chair-frame, except that the corners are roundedon arcs cor- Fig.3isasec- 55 responding to the circumferential curvature of guide-roller B. Afterthis pattern is cut out I secure to its edge a flat steel ribbon j, which of course will have the same conformation as the pattern, and which practically affords to this pattern a thin metallic rim or flange. Upon the top of this pattern is set the seat-frame S, which is secured thereto by a cleat K, which clamps the two inner edges to the bottom by means of screw-handle 7c. The chair-bottom is thus secured to the pattern. The projecting edge of the steel ribbon j is then inserted between the friction-disk C and the antifriction guide-roller B. Then by means of lever cl the eccentric-bearing is turned, so as to clamp the flange j firmly between this friction-disk O and roller B. Now when disk 0 is rotated, the ribbon or flange j will be fed through between the guide-roller B and the friction-disk G, thereby carrying the pattern around under the router H. The path which this router cuts will be parallel with the guiding-flange j of the pattern, and when it comes to a corner, since this flange is formed on a curve equal to the circumference of roller B, the router will remain stationary, so far as its cutting effect is concerned, until the pattern is turned through the desired angle, and the straight or tangent portion of the flange b is again propelled along the side of the pattern.

I have indicated the path of the router as related to the sides of the pattern in Figs. 5 and 6. The router will pursue the path R, while the pattern will be propelled by friction applied alongj.

It is evident that if we give the pattern or flange j any curvature or any form we can cause the router to pursue any-shaped path between the vertex of one angle and another, but when we arrive at this vertex, since this flange conforms to the circumference of the guide-roller B, the pattern will turn about the router as a center until the side of the angle is reached, when the disk will again propel the pattern along a straight or a curved line, thus making a square or angular corner in the surface of the article upon which we are operating.

The router may be fed downward into the work by means of a leverand ratchet or in any other convenient manner, and may be propelled by belt, as indicated, or by gearing.

Constructing the pattern or work holder with a guiding-flange by means of which it is also propelled under the router is a novel and important feature of the invention, and I do not limit myself to the particular construction thereof herein shown and described.

Having thus described my invention, what Itherefore claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent thereon, is

1. The combination of a rotatable friction disk, a guide-rollerbeside it; means for moving the disk or roller to or from the other; and a routing-tool above the guide-roller; with a pattern having a guiding-flange formed by a metallic ribbon j secured to its edge, said flange being adapted to be clamped between the disk and roller and thereby fed past said roller and rotate the pattern, substantially as described.

2. The combination of a stationary roller, a routing-tool axially in line With the roller, and a friction-disk beside the roller; with a work-holder having a flange conforming in contour to the groove to be cut except that where corners are to be formed in groove the flange is bent on arcs corresponding to the circumference of the roller substantially as described; said flange being clamped between and guided by said roller and disk, with means for rotating the router, means for rotating said disk, and means for causing the disk and roller to clamp or release the pattern-flange, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

3. The combination of the main frame, the table, the stationaryguide-rollerthereon, the friction-disk beside the guide-roller, an cecentric bearing for the disk-carrying shaft, means for rotating said shaft, and for rotating said bearing so as to move the disk toward or away from the roller; a routing-tool axially above the roller, andmeans for rotating said tool; with a combined pattern and work holder, having a flange on its bottom conforming in contour to the groove to becut except that where corners are to be formed in groove the flange is curved on arcs corresponding to the circumferential curvature of the roller, all substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY E. PURDY. \Vitnesses:

JARED H. ORR,. B. F. LEGGETT. 

